Santa Monica On Track For Water Self-Sufficiency By 2020

Tuesday, 16 Jul 2013, 8:54:00 AM

Mirror Staff

The City of Santa Monica continued making progress toward its goal of water self-sufficiency by 2020 with City Council approval to finalize a Sustainable Water Master Plan.

The Plan outlines water-saving measures and maximizing the use of local groundwater, stormwater and recycled water as part of the blueprint for water independence.

Water-efficiency is the most critical element of the effort. To achieve the Plan’s goals, all sectors of the community will have to reduce water use.

Cumulatively, the reductions would be equivalent to each resident’s daily use dropping from 134 gallons per day (current average) to 123 gallons per day by the year 2020, saving a total of up to 4,000 gallons per resident each year.

The Plan includes programs for both residents and businesses. Combined, businesses are expected to save more than 128 million gallons each year.

“Our modern groundwater treatment facilities currently meet up to 75 percent of the city’s water needs,” said City of Santa Monica Water Resources Manager Gil Borboa. “Imported water now fills the remaining gap but by 2020, water-efficient measures taken by the City, residents and businesses will help us eliminate our reliance on imported water.”

The City of Santa Monica was lauded by the National Resources Defense Council as having the most ambitious plan of any of the more than 350 Southern California urban water management plans analyzed in a recent study: Tackling Water Scarcity: Five Southern California Water Agencies Lead the Way to a More Sustainable Tomorrow.

Santa Monica and four other agencies are expected to collectively reduce water imports by 40 billion gallons annually by 2035. That includes a 100 percent reduction on the part of the City of Santa Monica.

The other top four water agencies named in the analysis include: The City of Camarillo, Ventura County Water District 1, Long Beach Water Department and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The report analyzed 2010 Urban Water Management Plans for more than 350 agencies, which is the most comprehensive study of its kind.

“This analysis clearly demonstrates that water sustainability and self-reliance can be achieved,” said Borboa. “Investment in improved water treatment facilities, aggressive management of local water resources and working with residents and businesses to take long term water-efficient actions are the keys to the City of Santa Monica’s future water self-sufficiency success.”